Padaek – 9 month update

Sabaidee everyone! Well – that was a bit of a lull between blog posts wasn’t it!? You can blame the merriments of the Labour Day public holiday/NRL grand final long weekend for that (along with other joyful events/work/happenings that occurred along the way – which I’ll later reveal/share with you). I’m not complaining. Se a vida é.((1))

I did manage to squeeze in a WW (Wordless Wednesday) last week though (thanks very much Julie @ Gourmet Getaways and Jem @ Lost In Utensils for commenting – you two are really nice/awesome!). Although, the post before that was also a WW – making it a whole 7 days between the two posts – making it the longest post publishing absence from the website in Padaek’s almost 1 year history/record ever! Wow and oops!

Snoopy Clip Art((2))

Anyhow, I’m back now and hopefully, everything will be back to a level of normality with regular posts, recipes, updates, and more poems and WWs to share. Yippeee!

Whilst I enjoyed my time away (it wasn’t all drinks and bbqs) – I must admit that I did miss blogging and communicating with you guys properly, so I humbly apologize for my absence. Please don’t go away or disappearing on me now, and stay tuned for more glorious/knock your socks off/saab Lao/Australian food stories/recipes/photos, etc.

My time away from the blog actually proved fruitful for the blog as well. It’s made me more hungry/inspired and invigorated to be more focussed/productive and creative with my approach to blogging and food/cooking. It has motivated me better my skills as a writer/artist and cook/recipe developer as well. How exciting, and be prepared folks for some hopefully good new stuff! bigsmile

After saying that though and to be honest – after 1 week’s absence from writing, I am finding it quite difficult to get back into the groove of writing again. This post for example, has taken me a good part of the day and several edits to get sort of right.

Anyhow, over the long weekend, we drove to the hectic/crazy busy Sydney Fish Markets and bought some Eastern School Whiting to make a new method jar of padaek with (which I did last Wednesday the 8th) and will post up the process/recipe asap. I also bought some Periwinkles (edible sea snails) (which I also cooked up last Wednesday – yep, it was a pretty productive day) and will post that up asap too. So there you go – I didn’t forget about the blog completely over the last week at all.

By the way, I have a few surprises for you. Well – they’re not really surprises because I’m mentioning them now, but they will be fully revealed/shared later on. During my absence, I had the lucky opportunity to participate in and document a cooking session/recipes by our skilled Chef friend – Ben, who cooked/prepared a lovely French fusion meal for a group of us (with the help of sous chef Raj). This guest recipe/chef/cook post is the first of its kind on Padaek, and I’m working hard on it to get the recipe/post ready/finished for you asap. Yowza – there’s now a few backlog posts to complete!!

I also have exciting news/info on a Sydney-based Lao food tour co-hosted by yours truly, so stay tuned for that as well! bigsmile Furthermore, I have purchased some great new second-hand cookbooks that I can’t wait to share with you and work with as a possible side project on the blog. This will be continued!

Now – back to the topic of today’s post: Padaek – 9 month update

Yes, the update was meant to occur on the 5th of the month, but like I said, it’s been a rather unusual past week. Besides, I had a peek at the jar of padaek a couple of days before the 5th, and believe me, it looks the same then as it does in the photos below (taken on Wednesday the 8th).

I’ll let the photos speak for themselves, but as you can see – since the last update, the padaek sauce/fish et al bits inside the jar had settled down. The new sediment level is now at about the exact same spot as what it has been over the last 4 updates. Nothing new to really report and it leaves me speechless/baffled because it still hasn’t budged from this level for quite some time now.

Anyhow, a couple of days ago – I was thinking and trying to understand and justify the situation of the padaek. I thought that just because the padaek is not visually showing signs of reduction/fermentation – this doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s not developing or fermenting properly! Perhaps, it’s just one of those late bloomers who saves the best till last, or perhaps it’s just a different/new breed/type of padaek that ferments in its own different/original way? I don’t know – each to their own. Let’s wait and see what happens, as summer approaches and the weather warms up some more.

[[1]]Borrowed from Pet Shop Boys’s song “Se a vida é (That’s the Way Life Is)”. Note: The correct English translation of “Se a vida é” from Portuguese is actually “If Life Is…”. The correct translation of “That’s the way life is” would be “É assim que a vida é…” or “A vida é assim”. Se a vida é! Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Se_a_vida_%C3%A9_(That’s_the_Way_Life_Is).[[1]]

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What recipe did you use for the padaek? Kudos to you for trying to make homemade padaek because it’s tough to get right. I would probably go to an elder to walk me through the whole process because I don’t know how to myself.
I am looking forward to your future project

Thanks for your comment. The recipe for the jar of padaek above can be found here: http://padaek.com/make-padaek-lao-fermented-fish-sauce-recipe/. The new/dry recipe/method that I’ll be posting asap is basically the same as the above recipe, except that I did not let the fish and salt mix rest overnight in the fridge. Also, I used normal table sea salt in the new method instead of pink Himalayan rock salt. There are different recipes/variations to making padaek, with several recipes available online (you can find links to different recipes on the link I mentioned above). There’s also a recipe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H895bX7SomE. I want to try all of these different recipes myself and hopefully come up with a unique recipe of my own. Basically, the process/recipe is simple with 3 ingredients. Some factors can change/influence the process, including room temp, jar size/type, and making the recipe more complicated than what it is, which is what I think I might have done with the above padaek. Time will tell all! :D

Thanks for your comment. Thanks very much for your continued support by following and commenting, I really appreciate it and your encouragement too! Yes, a few exciting new things happening with the blog and around. Will update asap. Hope you’re kicking butt with the thesis. Best wishes! :D